The NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, which is even more dramatic than fiction, captures the chaotic activity atop a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being assaulted from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks.

This turbulent cosmic pinnacle lies within a tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)

The computer wallpapers, desktops and backgrounds are provided solely for use as personal desktop backgrounds on your computer. They may not be redistributed or used in any other way without prior permission.